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Thu Sep 24 02:31:34 CEST 2009 · https://mail.python.org/pipermail/python-dev/2009-September/092061.html

On Wed, Sep 23, 2009 at 5:25 PM, Antoine Pitrou <solipsis at pitrou.net> wrote:
> MRAB <python <at> mrabarnett.plus.com> writes:
>>
>> It's called a 'subscript' because conventional mathematical notation
>> uses subscripting. Newbies might be acquainted with the term 'index'
>> from books, where the 'value' is non-numeric. It's a bit unfortunate
>> that dicts have keys+value instead of index+value!
>
> Well, "index" for me points to the mathematical notion of an index, which AFAIK
> is always numeric. So it would be a mistake to use that term for dicts.

'Key' and 'index' refer to semantics. 'Subscript' refers to syntax.

-- 
--Guido van Rossum (home page: http://www.python.org/~guido/)

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[Python-Dev] unsubscriptable vs object does not support indexing